This is the joint website of Women Against Rape and Black Women's Rape Action Project. Both organisations are based on self-help and provide support, legal information and advocacy. We campaign for justice and protection for all women and girls, including asylum seekers, who have suffered sexual, domestic and/or racist violence.

WAR was founded in 1976. It has won changes in the law, such as making rape in marriage a crime, set legal precedents and achieved compensation for many women. BWRAP was founded in 1991. It focuses on getting justice for women of colour, bringing out the particular discrimination they face. It has prevented the deportation of many rape survivors. Both organisations are multiracial.

Rape in marriage

Exclusive: Sarah said she suffered years of abuse from her brutal partner. But when she reported it to the police, the tables were turned on her and she lost her freedom and her children

Helen Pidd
guardian.co.uk, Friday 26 November 2010 21.34 GMT

At midnight on 28 November last year, Sarah made the phone call she says she thought would save her life. After nine years of abuse from a man she describes as so controlling that she wasn't allowed her own purse, let alone bank card or driving licence, she had finally been pushed over the edge.

Women who drop rape allegations because of fear are being prosecuted. Our new guide is needed more than ever.
Lisa Longstaff

guardian.co.uk Comment is free, Tuesday 9 November 2010 14.04 GMT

The imprisonment of a woman in Wales for withdrawing rape allegations against her husband is a nightmarish addition to the discrimination awaiting women and girls who seek justice after suffering rape and sexual assault.

Just 6.5% of reported rapes end up with a rape conviction (and 87% end with no conviction at all). Stalking, threats to kill and further assaults are common from violent men who have been reported, especially when they have had a relationship with the victim. Two women a week are killed by partners and ex-partners. Many other women commit suicide to end the terrorism they face.

The Rapist Who Pays the Rent: Women's case for changing the Law on Rape
2nd edn 1984, R. Hall, S. James, J. Kertesz
Led to the historic decision that recognized rape in marriage as a crime in England and Wales.